Browser URL Redirection Rules for Backward-Compatible VDI Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
In a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment, users face inefficiencies and poor user experience when switching between local and remote desktops to access URL content due to security policies and the need to manually transfer URLs, which reduces productivity.
Innovation Solution
A method for URL content redirection using browser extensions that update redirection rules, allowing URLs to be automatically redirected from a first browser to a second browser based on predefined rules, ensuring compatibility and efficient access across devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a user manually switches between local and virtual desktops to access URL content, then the user can access the required content, but the user experience deteriorates and productivity decreases due to time-consuming manual operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes URL redirection rules that automatically determine which device (local or virtual desktop) should handle specific URLs. When a user encounters a URL, the redirection rule is automatically applied without requiring manual switching or transfer operations, thus resolving the technical contradiction by eliminating time-consuming manual operations while ensuring content accessibility
Solution Approach 2:
A URL redirection mechanism acts as an intermediary between the user and the desktop switching operation. The redirection rule system intercepts URL access requests and automatically routes them to the appropriate device, replacing the manual switching process and thereby improving productivity while reducing time loss
2Reliability
If security policies restrict URL access on virtual desktops, then security is improved, but the ability to access certain URL content deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments URL access by creating device-specific redirection rules that determine which URLs should be accessed on the local desktop versus the virtual desktop. This segmentation allows security policies to be enforced on the virtual desktop while still providing access to restricted URLs through automatic redirection to the local desktop, thus resolving the contradiction between security enforcement and content accessibility
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to make the virtual desktop accessible to all URLs and then restricting them through security policies, the system inverts the approach by automatically redirecting restricted URLs to the local desktop where they can be accessed without security constraints. This inversion resolves the contradiction by maintaining security policy enforcement while ensuring URL content accessibility through alternative access paths
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure provides a method for launching a browsing session. The method generally includes triggering a browser extension popup of a browser extension at a first device; requesting, by the browser extension popup, one or more uniform resource locator (URL) redirection rules, wherein the one or more URL redirection rules are associated with one or more URLs; receiving the one or more URL redirection rules; receiving, by the browser, a URL; sending, from the first device to a second device, a request to launch another browser at the second device based on the received URL matching at least one of the one or more URLs associated with the one or more URL redirection rules; sending, from the first device to the second device, the received URL; and displaying the launched browser of the second device.